The transmission guys called me this afternoon. If it’s just the torque converter we’re looking at $800. If the whole thing is shot it’s going to be at least $2,000. Ay caramba! Pray for metal healing!
Super early morning for me today. Ashley and I started out at 8 am at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce for the planning meeting for the Franklin Graham crusade in 2009. I slept maybe 4 hours last night. I’m a late night guy and normally am at my computer till around midnight working on some project. Even when I know I’ve got an early morning gig, my brain just doesn’t want to slow down.
The meeting went on for about 2 hours and was just about to end. I’d been completely quiet the whole time. Finally I said, “I’m a missionary here in Atlanta working with apartment complexes. Almost everyone I work with is unchurched. What percentage of the people that come to these events are unchurched? My partners are convinced that the great majority will be church people.” No clear answer was given. Then I said, “Is it possible to do a simultaneous event on site with TVS and a DVD? I just don’t see all these unchurched people coming to this event.” They did say that that was a possibility. So that’s a ray of hope. The estimated the cost of the event to be between 1.5 and 1.8 MILLION dollars. The Gwinnett Civic Center can hold about 13,000 people and there will be four services. If everyone of those seats is taken up with a non-Christian that would be 52,000 people. If you divide $1,800,000 by 52,000 you get $34.65.
I have to ask myself, does it really cost $35 to tell someone about Jesus?
I’ll still support the event, but I do believe that our strategy of going directly TO THE COMMUNITY and building relationships with them is the answer. I think the days of these large events really reaching our communities is over.
However, I also believe in a “buffet approach” to evangelism. There will be people that can only be reached by these big events.
I still felt kind of bad to be the guy that stood up and actually asked for a bottom line–will unchurched people come to this event? The answer was, “Only if they are brought there.”
Ashley asked me, “Daddy, do you see yourself going to pick someone up, take them over there, wait in line to get a seat just so they can hear someone preach?” Had to say, “Not really.” I’d rather sponsor a group to do a cookout for $100/location, play some games and share the Gospel right where they live. It’s the on going work that’s the most important and THAT is what Whirlwind is committed to doing.
I’m not sure if everyone who reads this blog supports our ministry–but you should.
After the Graham meeting, Ashley and I did a recon of the four locations in Lawrenceville that our partners at Crossroads church and Union Baptist Church will be working with. We met with the team leaders, introduced them to the managers of the complexes, got to meet the kids after they got off the bus and just had a terrific time. I’m looking foward to great things that first weekend in October!
My partners at Perimeter will be working at 20 locations simultaneously in 6 cities around Metro Atlanta on October 7th. This year we’re not cooking, instead we’re putting our finances towards buying Evangecubes–a great new way to share the Gospel with a little device that’s shaped like Rubik’s cube, but folds out to show different pictures of the story of salvation. My guess is that one church in one afternoon will share the Gospel with at LEAST 200 people. That number could easily be 500. We’ll interact with over 1,000-1,500 non-Christians. The cost of event per location is less than $100.
After the meeting I had several people come up to me and tell me how glad they were that I’d said what I’d said. I guess I’m the field missionary reality check.
Ashley and I also wrote our 200 newletters and got them in the mail this afternoon! PTL!
Peace.